Murder, He Said
by flo-bizet
Summary: AU When Tsuzuki is invited to a dinner at his great uncle's house, he never expected there to be so many questions, not to mention a murder. Eventual Tsusoka.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I am pleased to announce that this is my first attempt at a serious story! It's not up there with others I have read, but I'm a laugher, not an angster. I hope that it's up to serious story standards (or at least kind of close to it)!

A few **IMPORTANT DETAILS** before we begin:

**1.)** Since this is an AU, there is no magic, which, sadly means that Hisoka is not cursed.

**Muraki:** WHAT?

**Kalili:** Yes, you have not cursed him.

**Muraki:** … Now, does this also mean I did not rape him?

**Kalili:** I'm still thinking about that. Maybe if you're good you can, okay?

**Muraki:** Well then, I guess he's not getting raped. But what about Mr. Tsuzuki?

**Kalili:** Oh, but TSUZUKI STILL HAS PURPLE EYES! Thank you for reminding me! I couldn't stand it if he didn't. Purple is my second favorite color! Right after green (I swear that that is just a coincidence). Though, it's not going to play a big thing in this.

**2.)** I am going by the dubbed anime (don't stone me for that! I couldn't get into Hisoka's girl voice!) b/c I have not read the manga (working on it, though!). But I have read the fourth one, so maybe a little Saya and Yuma might work their way into here. Though, I don't know how at this point.

**3.)** This does not take place in Japan, and is in the early 1900's. Now, I haven't decided where, but that is not very important to story development in this case.

And **4.)** The style I am using's name escapes me right now, but I am not sure if I started this correctly. Somebody please tell me if I screwed it up, okay?

**Disclaimer: **Oh, how I loathe this. It's so pointless! I do not own Yami no Matsuei –insert funny comment-.

On with the murder!

"**Murder" He Said**

Chapter 1

I had never been one to prefer the high life over the, let's just say, not so high life, but that didn't stop me from accepting the invitation to dinner. True, it was very much out of my way, but I decided that I should go ahead and go since I hadn't seen my Great Uncle Konoe in such a long time and I had heard that he had fallen ill.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the old woman on the train said.

"Don't be," the young man replied. "He was pretty old and it was to be expected at such an age. It was still sad, though."

"Well, that's understandable." She leaned over and patted his knee to comfort the man. "Please continue with your story, Mr. Tsuzuki."

"Right. There was a surprisingly small crowd I found when I arrived, and I was actually quite late because of a rather horrid storm. Anyway, you would think that close friends and relatives would be there, but there were only about seven people. Two of whom were the butler and maid and two more were already staying at Konoe's estate.

The other two who were invited besides myself were Yutaka Watari and Seiichiro Tatsumi. I remembered them from years back. They were very distant cousins that I think I was related to by law instead of blood. I had only seen them at the large family reunions that Konoe held at least six times a year for quite some time when I was a child. The three of us would always play with each other non stop. Maybe Konoe got tired of throwing them so often or just having too many people around, but he stopped having them when I was about twelve. Even though we probably wouldn't see each other after that night, I felt that I still needed to get reacquainted with them all the same.

The two workers were Kannuki Wakaba and Hajime Terazuma. I had never met Wakaba and she appeared to be only in high school. I assumed she must had started working there to save money for college. Terazuma, though, I had met the last time I had visited (about six or so years ago) and did not have many pleasantries to exchange with him, but I will not go into that at the moment.

Now, there was actually much more help than just those two before we arrived. I'm not sure why they were all gone, but it was not my place to be nosy about such things.

One of the two people living there was Hisoka Kurosaki. From what I had heard, he was not related to Konoe in any way. Konoe had just taken the boy in after he had been orphaned. He must had been business partners with his parents or something. I didn't know much about the circumstances or Hisoka in general. All anybody knew about him was that he was sixteen and had health problems. I was actually really looking forward to meeting him during this. You know, trying to find some good during a sad time.

Kazutaka Muraki was Hisoka's doctor and another mystery. The few people who had met him (that I knew, that is) said that he dressed completely in white, giving off the appearance of an angel. However, others had said that there was something about him that they didn't trust. They said that it was the way he interacted with Hisoka that gave them that feeling, like a child taking care of its doll. This was dismissed, though, as just a doctor taking special care of his patient.

Then there was me, Asato Tsuzuki, who you've already met!

Once I arrived there, I was immediately greeted.

"Asato Tsuzuki, is that you?" I heard someone say from behind me after Wakaba had taken my coat. I turned around to see a man grinning like mad at me. It didn't take long for me to realize it was Watari.

Returning the smile, I said, "Long time no see, Watari! How long has it been exactly?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. But I do remember not being able to reach that door handle on my last visit!"

"That long? I'm surprised Konoe never arranged another family reunion." (1)

"It might have been because of all of us little ones running around breaking things and eating his sweets. Why, I remember a certain purple eyed little boy especially sneaking little candies and cakes off of the table quite often, hmmm?"

"Yes, I recall that same memory," another voice said from my other side. "Tell us, Tsuzuki, do you still have that enormous sweet tooth of yours?"

Watari and I turned to see obviously Tatsumi looking very business like.

"Tatsumi, I'm, um, much too old to still have as big as an appetite for sweets as I did when I was a kid," I said the best I could with a straight face.

Watari, being ever friendly, gave him a playful slap on the back and said, "Why if it isn't Tatsumi! It seems that you did turn into a stick in the mud, just as I always thought you would when we were little!"

"I think that 'stick in the mud' is a bit harsh," Tatsumi muttered. "And I am not a business man, as you seem to imply. I'm a lawyer."

"Lawyer, huh? Why am not surprised?"

"And I am going to take a guess and say that you, Watari, have become a doctor of some sort?"

"Was it that obvious when we were kids?"

Watari had always been trying to get Tatsumi and I to pretend to be sick or injured so he could practice. To think that he was actually serious. Tatsumi hadn't been as obvious about what he wanted to do as an adult, but "lawyer" seemed to suit him.

"What have you done with your life, Tsuzuki?" Tatsumi asked.

"Me?" I said. "Well, I wish that my career choice was as high up as you two's, but I'm just a high school teacher."

"Now now, Tsuzuki. A teacher is a wonderful job! You get to educate the next generation. What do you teach?"

"History. But enough about work, what are you two up to when it comes to family?"

"I'm a bachelor," Watari said. "I just can't seem to find someone who wants to put up with me!"

"I'm in the same boat," Tatsumi said. "I don't have time to go out and look for someone to settle down with."

"What a shame. What about you, Tsuzuki? I'm sure you've got quite a catch!"

"I'm afraid I'm still single, too."

"What? A good looking guy like you? That's a surprise!"

"What can I say? I just haven't found the right person, yet. But I'm sure they're out there somewhere."

"Pardon my interruption, gentlemen," Terazuma suddenly began, "but dinner is served in the main dining hall. If you will follow me."

Following him seemed to take forever. I had forgotten how large Konoe's house was. You would think that it would appear smaller since I was an adult now, but it actually seemed to have grown. I wouldn't had been surprised to find out that Konoe had added on since he built everything with his own designs. I vaguely remembered him telling my parents about all of the new things he had done each time we visited. Of course, I had never paid too much attention.

"Excuse me," Tatsumi said after a while. "But is Konoe well enough to join us?"

"I'm sorry, but he is not," Terazuma said.

"Then why did he invite us if he isn't able to eat with us?" I asked.

"I don't know! Ask him yourself." Like I said, not very pleasant between the two of us.

"Well, what about Hisoka?" I tried again. "Are we going to be able to meet him?"

"Mr. Kurosaki does what he pleases and he is not in the mood to dine with the guests tonight. Now enough questions, we're here."

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Dinner went off without much happenings except for the three of us catching up on everything and talking about our childhood. As the evening wore down, I excused myself from the two of them to go look around.

On my way through the mansion, I went first into the areas that had been restricted to me when I was little. Sadly, it was no different than the other parts of the house. Just a lot of beautiful paintings and vases, really nice furniture, and basically anything expensive you could think of.

It wasn't until I got to the West Wing did I find something interesting. I soon found myself in the library that I had known about, but never actually been in. It was amazing, to say the least. There were millions of books in shelves and cases that towered over you with a book from every genre imaginable. Just the thought of reading them all was giving me a headache. When I was turning to leave, though, something caught my eye.

I turned back around and saw that it was actually a someone. There, in the middle of the floor, sat a young boy reading a fairly thick book. He had wheat colored hair that looked like strands of silk that hung slightly in his face. His skin was as pale as the moon and combined with the look of his fragile body, he resembled a fine china doll.

All of a sudden, I was met with a pair of large, green eyes. "I take it you're one of the people Konoe invited?" he said.

I gasped in some air, not realizing I had been holding my breath. "Um, yes," I started, "I just came from dinner not too long ago, actually."

"Oh." He then went back to his reading, completely ignoring me.

He probably was expecting me to leave then, but my legs wouldn't allow it. Plus, I really wanted to find out who he was, so perhaps I was subconsciously forcing myself to be immobile.

It was some time before I finally came up with a conversation starter. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself! I'm Asato Tsuzuki. And you?"

He looked up at me with a, "What?" as if he were shocked I was still there.

"My name is Tsuzuki," I repeated. "What's yours?"

"Hisoka Kurosaki."

"Really! It's so nice to finally meet you, Hisoka! I haven't heard much about you, so let's start getting to know each other, okay? Like, what are you reading?"

He stared at me a bit longer before saying, "War and Peace." It actually seemed he was suspicious of me, which was weird because I didn't think I came off as shady or anything.

Determined to keep the conversation going, I continued, "War and Peace, huh? What's it about?"

"A war and peace?" he said with an eyebrow raised. He had also emphasized the word "peace," most likely as a hint for me to give him some. I couldn't understand why. I would think that he'd want somebody to talk to if he was stuck in such a huge place with only his doctor, a butler, a maid, and Konoe. And they were probably busy with other things.

"Well, that sounds… interesting," I said after a while. "Do you like to read?"

Putting the book down, Hisoka glared at me and said, "I have a question. How old are you?"

"There now, see? We're already breaking down the walls! I'm twenty-six."

"Then you should act your age." He then went back to reading.

I figured he was in a bad mood. I mean, if the man who took you in and got you good medical treatment was ill, I knew I wouldn't be in a great mood either. It was most likely better if I left and gave him some more alone time. As I turned around, though, I ran into some books, tripped, and fell flat on my face. While I was getting up, I heard a small chuckle. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Hisoka watching me with the hint of smile on his face. Realizing I had noticed him, a blush came across his cheeks which he quickly covered with his book.

"I'm glad I made you smile," I said as I stood back up. "Even if it was just a small one." And at my own expense, I thought to myself.

Hisoka just buried his face even deeper into his book. I found that at this point, it was impossible to take my eyes off of him. He was just too cute! I decided that for the rest of the night, I would try to make him happy.

"There you are," a chilling voice said. A man in white was standing right beside me, his eyes on Hisoka. I jumped because I hadn't even heard him come in. It made me wonder how long he had been standing there.

"Why, hello," he continued, now looking at me. "I don't believe we've met."

"Oh, we haven't," I said, extending my hand. "I'm Asato Tsuzuki, one of the guests invited."

"I see." He shook my hand as he said, "I'm Kazutaka Muraki, the boy's doctor."

"Yes, I've heard of you from other family members." Thinking that as the doctor, Muraki would be closer to Konoe, I asked, "Say, could you tell me why Konoe only invited Tatsumi, Watari, and I?"

"I would if I could, but to be honest, I didn't even know you three were coming."

"Really?" That's strange, I thought. You would think that a man with such an important position would know more about what's going on here.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid I have to leave and take the boy with me. We must talk again before the night is over, Mr. Tsuzuki."

With that, Hisoka got up with his book and left with Muraki without a word. I didn't notice the doctor acting particularly possessive towards him. In fact, the only contact they made was Muraki putting his hand on Hisoka's back, but it looked like he was merely guiding him somewhere. I didn't linger on the thought for too long, though. I felt that it was time for me to be getting back to Tatsumi and Watari.

As I made my way through the enormous mansion, I noticed the storm outside picking up. It didn't look good for driving conditions and I wondered if Konoe would mind if I stayed the night.

I decided I would ask Wakaba or someone to get permission from Konoe. Speaking of which, I was wondering if I would actually be able to at least visit him.

"It would be a shame not to," I said.

Suddenly, a scream echoed throughout the halls. Without thinking, I quickly ran in it's direction as best I could, my heart pounding. Slowly, the screams got louder and I could tell that it was Wakaba and that she was actually screaming a word.

"What was it, Mr. Tsuzuki?" the old woman asked.

"Murder," he said.

TBC

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**A/N:** This fic took five straight hours to type and was inspired by my upbringing on "Who done it?" shows!

**Muraki:** I must say, for once, I am quite impressed with you.

**Kalili: **Really?

**Muraki:** Yes. You haven't written something that is pure and utter farce.

**Kalili:** I know! I think it went a bit too fast, but I couldn't think of anything important to add. Oh, but if there are a lot of questions, then that is not surprising. Just to let you know, a lot of information that you may think is unimportant is actually VERY important. But everybody loves a good murder mystery! However, whether this is in fact GOOD, I don't know. You guys have to tell me, so:

You know what to do!

Please leave a review!

As always, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed with chibi puppy Tsuzuki's!

**ALSO:** Updates will probably take FOREVER since this is really hard for me. Just a little warning. But reviews might be able to fuel me!


	2. Chapter 2

**Kalili:** Well, whaddya know? Inspiration hit early, so maybe updates will be faster than I thought!

**Muraki:** That's a shock. I could have sworn you would go running back to writing that farce of yours.

**Kalili:** Hey, just 'cause you don't appreciate a good laugh doesn't mean the whole rest of the world doesn't!

**Muraki:** You misunderstand me. Of course I like a good laugh! Why, just the other day I was watching the news and-

**Kalili:** Okay, we're stopping right there. Enjoy the read!

**Warning:** I say the "s" word this chapter… Ooooooh. .

Chapter 2

"Murder?" the old lady repeated, shock clear in her voice.

Tsuzuki nodded. "If you want me to stop, then-"

"Oh no! I hate to sound sadistic or insensitive, but I really do want to know what happened since, for me, it's a bit like a mystery novel."

"If you insist." Tsuzuki smiled as he continued on.

"Murder!" Wakaba kept screaming. "Murder! Murder!"

By the time I got there, I found her crumpled against the wall in a bedroom, sobbing and still screaming.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, I tried to calm her down so she could tell me what was wrong. "Wakaba!" I said. "Come on, everything is going to be fine. Just pull yourself together, okay? You need to tell me what happened."

"He's dead!" she yelled. "He's dead, he's dead, he's dead-!"

"Who's dead!" I unintentionally shook her and spoke with more force than meant, but I think that it might have brought a small bit of her sanity back for a second. She slowly lifted her shaking arm up and pointed to something behind me.

I hesitated for a moment, afraid of what I might find, before turning my head around. I gasped, realizing that everything was not going to be fine in the least bit. There, in a bed, was the now corpse of my great uncle Konoe, a knife unceremoniously stabbed into his chest.

Time seemed to stop at that moment. I had never seen a dead body, no less one covered in blood. I didn't know how to react. All I could do was stare, mouth agape like an idiot.

For some reason, my mind turned to thoughts of Hisoka. I wondered how he would react. What would happen to him? Where would he go? Looking back, I feel like that was wrong of me to be thinking at that time, but perhaps it was to avoid the reality of my uncle being ripped from the world in such a manner.

It appeared as if an eternity had passed before I noticed that Wakaba and I were no longer alone in the room. Tatsumi placing a hand on my shoulder had brought me out of whatever trance I had been in and I looked to him, confusion probably written all over my face.

"What happened?" he asked me.

"I-I don't know," I whispered.

I turned my attention to the other voices in the room, but immediately looked away when I saw Watari and Muraki at Konoe's bed. It made perfect since that they would be the first ones to approach him, being doctor's and all, but I couldn't stand to look at Konoe's dead body again.

I felt so useless there, so with great effort I stood up and left the room, Tatsumi close behind. I must have been stumbling, because Tatsumi soon had to grab me and lead me to the closest parlor, Terazuma doing the same with Wakaba.

I don't remember all that went on during however long I was sitting on one of the couches, except for Terazuma trying desperately to get Wakaba to compose herself. She kept shrieking that Konoe was killed over and over. I felt even more worthless there. I couldn't do anything.

"You okay?" somebody asked me out of the blue.

I shifted my gaze to where the voice came from to find Hisoka sitting next to me and looking actually concerned. However, something about him disturbed me. He looked incredibly calm in this situation. I let it go to him merely being uninformed of what had just happened.

I was about to tell him that Konoe had been killed, but all that I could manage was a choked, "I'm sorry."

I wasn't able to say anything else. I broke into tears and buried my face in my hands. Somebody else would have to tell Hisoka the horrible news, I told myself. It was too much for me.

"What are you sorry for?" Hisoka said. I looked up to see him staring out the window into the stormy night, face expressionless. "You didn't kill him, did you?" I shook my head, still unable to speak. "If so, then this is in no way your fault and I can only assume you apologized to show me your grief, but it's not necessary. So don't, okay?"

I nodded, surprised at how unruffled he was. Wakaba and I couldn't hold ourselves together and Terazuma actually appeared to be extremely on edge, yet here Hisoka was looking as if this all was just an annoying fly. It troubled me to no end.

"Everyone, if I could have your attention, please," Tatsumi announced as he made his way into the parlor (I hadn't noticed that he had left again, to be honest), Watari and Muraki close behind. Terazuma, Wakaba, and I looked up, Wakaba and I still sniffling, while Hisoka kept his eyes fixed to outside.

"I'm sure you all are aware of what has happened," Tatsumi began, pausing every so often, "and I am also sure that all of you are deeply disturbed and want to inform the authorities. However, I'm afraid we have some bad news. The phones are down." (1)

Silence followed his statement as the shocking news sank in. Terazuma was the first to break it.

"Well, can anyone fix it?"

"We're afraid not," Watari said. "We can't figure out what the problem really is, at this point in time. It could be because of the storm, or… or because someone cut it."

"Who would do that?" Wakaba squeaked.

"The murderer, most likely," Muraki said, who also seemed eerily tranquil.

"In the meantime," Tatsumi continued, "we need to just stay calm and discuss things in the morning."

"In the morning?" Terazuma exclaimed. "There's a murderer in this place and you want us all to hang around doing nothing until morning?"

"I'm sorry, but we cannot allow anyone to leave here due to the fact that we are all suspects in this case. It will also be a lot easier if we all have some time to get ourselves back together and see if there is anything we can do about the phone lines once we have some better lighting."

"Fine. But in that case, I feel that we can't let everyone go to sleep at one time or else the murderer might try to kill someone else."

"That's a good idea," Watari said. "We should have at least three people awake while the rest sleep and then switch at some point in the night so everyone will have some amount of rest."

"If it's quite alright, I'd like to have Hisoka sleep as much as he can," Muraki said. "His health is poor and he needs as much sleep he can get. I'll gladly stay awake and by his bedside the entire night, I've done so numerous times."

"That's not a problem," Tatsumi started, "but we need to stay in groups of more than two."

"I'll stay with them," I offered.

"No, by the looks of it, Tsuzuki, you need to be one of the first to get some sleep." I didn't want to say it, but I agreed with Tatsumi. I felt like shit, for lack of a better word. It was probable more emotional than physical, although either way, I needed some shut eye. "In the meantime, let's have Terazuma and Watari stay here while Tsuzuki and Wakaba sleep and Muraki and I will stay with Hisoka. Any objections?"

Without a word, everyone did as was suggested. Wakaba was still whimpering and muttering about Konoe being dead, even while she was laying down, as Terazuma lit a cigarette, his hand shaking. Watari simply took a seat in a nearby chair after picking up a book off a shelf and began reading. Tatsumi, Muraki, and Hisoka walked off into a different part of the mansion leaving us alone.

I must say that I was a bit jealous of the three of them and Watari. They all seemed so collected or useful. I, on the other hand, was neither. Even Hisoka, who was only a teenager, didn't seem to be horribly effected by this and there I was, a grown man, bawling his eyes out not five minutes ago. It was disgraceful.

Hisoka. I realized at that moment of self pity that this was the third death of a parental figure he had experienced. I thought at that time that that must have had something to do with his emotionless facade. He was probably closing himself off to avoid being hurt by someone leaving him. The thought made me feel even worse about myself for just thinking about myself.

I remembered my earlier decision of wanting to make him happy that night. Look how well that went, I thought. Before I let myself go back into depression, I made another decision. I would take care of Hisoka after this night. I was sure that we could work out the details later, but the first thing was to get him away from this environment. It was not a good place for anyone.

As the clock struck midnight, I unwilling drifted off to sleep with Hisoka on my mind and a murderer somewhere on the loose.

TBC

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**Kalili:** I usually like my chapters at least five pages, but like last chapter there was nothing more important to write and I didn't want to suddenly skip to morning. TELL ME WHETHER OR NOT THIS WAS TOO FAST, PLEASE!

**1.)** The phone thing's cliché, I know, but it would just be way too easy to call the police. Also, I cannot TELL you how many murder shows I have watched where there is a murder at a mansion and everyone is stuck there, but THEY GO TO SLEEP WITH NO PROBLEM IN THE SAME HOUSE AS THE MURDERER! I had to clear that up.

**Kalili:** Hey, is it just me, or does there seem to be a spike in the Tsuzuki/Muraki fics here?

**Muraki:** -chops a hunk of meat with a clever- And what's wrong with that?

**Kalili:** Nothing. Just found it weird that there's been so many lately. I mean, I know that there's a large following, but it just seems so sudden.

**Muraki:** You need to be more accepting… Would you mind if I used your computer after you're down uploading this chapter?

**Kalili:** Why?

**Muraki:** Oh, I just wanted to do some reading!

**Kalili:** -glares- As long as you don't download any video porn.

You know what to do!

Please leave a review!

As always, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed with my freshly baked homemade brownies!


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